Their Passions in Life, For Life
by WildYoungAndFree
Summary: Percy Jackson is a swimmer. He's popular at school, and he's the captain of Goode High School's swim team. Annabeth Chase is a nerd with her head always in a book who works her hardest to achieve her goals in life. Most people see her as a nerd with no interests, but that changes when Percy sees her at an event. Can two opposite people overcome their differences? PJO and HoO AU.
1. Chapter 1: Following the Footsteps

**Author's Note:** Hi everyone! Please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors in my first chapter. I've only just started writing, so please leave me feedback on my work! I will update as regularly as I can. Thank you all! Enjoy reading :)

 **Chapter 1: Following the Footsteps**

He had been working hard. Really hard. Ever since he started walking, he was put in a pool. Swimming was, is, and will always be a passion for him. The moment that his career and his future depended on was only three minutes away. From the stands, Percy could see his mom cheering for him. She knew how much getting into the Junior Olympics meant not only to him but also to his high school. Percy knew that if he won, his mom would make the largest batch of blue chocolate chip cookies once he got home. His goal was the gold medal. He had to beat everyone else to get it, and this was the final round to prove it.

"On your marks." One of the judges announced as soon as the pool bleachers were silent. The silence was haunting. Percy was aching to get into the pool. The water moved with him, and the feeling of gliding through the water was what he loved.

Percy got onto the diving board. This was it. The timing of when he dove into the pool after those two words and the buzzer determined where he stood in life.

"Get set."

"BEEP!"

Faster than anyone could imagine, Percy dove into the pool. He was always picked on in elementary and middle school because of his ADHD and dyslexia, but in swimming, his ADHD and inborn reflexes was what earned him a split second advantage over the other participants, the split second that could get you from first to fourth or vice versa.

He was the first one in the water and was already past the flags when the other participants dove into the water. Percy was the captain of the swim team at Goode High School, and for a good reason too. He moved with such agility in the water, and to him, it was like his second home. His intense practice sessions earned him sore muscles, but he loved it. Naturally, he was good at freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke, but butterfly called to him. Percy was so inspired by Michael Phelps that he spent hours studying his techniques, the techniques that made him win the most gold medals in the Olympics. Since then, Percy decided that he wanted to make a name for himself through swimming.

Percy's dad, Poseidon Jackson, was a legendary swimmer. In his golden days, Poseidon could swim an astonishingly fast 400 meter freestyle. He set the record at the National USA Swimming Championships with a time of 3:43:18. Naturally, he taught Percy to swim. He was sure that he would follow his footsteps and earn glory in swimming. As Percy grew older, all he has to say is "My dad is Poseidon Jackson" to get entry into any pool or training facility. Most people recognize him because of their strikingly similar features. Both have captivating sea-green eyes, reflecting the mood and the thoughts running through their heads. Their black hair is always tousled by the wind, and never dry, except during school hours when Percy can't train.

Unfortunately, Poseidon could not make it to the final round of the Junior Olympics because of the annual meeting of his two brothers. Before the race started, Percy wished that his dad was there to see all their hard work pay off. Nevertheless, Percy wanted to surprise Poseidon with his (hopefully) win. The Junior Olympics has always been a dream for Percy, and this is the final step to make it come true.

Watching Percy swim was one of the great afterschool past-times at Goode. His crisp, clean strokes are mesmerizing to watch, and his muscles glistening in the water was always an _oomph_ factor to the girls. He was popular, but he didn't understand how. Sure, he was a great swimmer, but he doesn't have the looks or the brains. At least that's what he thought. Of course, all the popular girls try to date him. He shrugs them off, much to their dismay. Swimming before girls, that's how it's always worked. The one thing that he doesn't understand is how girls think that they can walk in 3 inch high heels in high school. In _high school!_ This is school, not a fashion runway. That's probably not what those girls thought about while getting ready for school.

The first lap was complete. Percy was well prepared and didn't feel any of his energy draining in the first 50 meters. He knew that he would have to save all his energy for the last 50, so he went at a good, but fast pace for the next 100 meters. Not even once did his mind wander during the race. He stayed at it, and before he knew it, he was at the last 50 meters. Percy kicked off the wall and let his body take over. Arms up, dolphin kick, breathe. Arms up, dolphin kick, breathe. So it went on until he reached the wall. He didn't dare to look at anything in his peripheral vision because he had heard horror stories from his dad of what happened when his swimmates lost focus. So, he kept his eyes on the goal and only the goal.

As soon as his fingertips touched the timeboard at the end of the pool, he took off his goggles to see his time show up on the board. 2:12:84. He did it. _He did it_. His name was next to the first slot. _He won!_ He blew his competition out of the water. The second and third place slots were seconds off. "YES! WHOOAAHH!" All of the nervousness welled inside Percy popped like a balloon. _He won the 200 meter butterfly!_ He let out a yell, one that was of the pride swelling in his chest. Like father, like son. He won! After congratulating the second and third place ranks, he leaped out of the pool and dried himself off with a towel. Reporters, cameras, and flashes was all he could see as soon as he could wrap his head around his win. He smiled for the cameras, answered as many questions as he could, and headed straight for the bleachers, where his mom, who everyone knew as Sally, ran down to hug him. Even though he was sopping wet and over six feet tall, he was still Mama's Little Boy. her tears of happiness was shown by her face.

"I promised you that big batch of cookies if you won. And make it I shall." Sally laughed and ruffled her son's hair, even though pool water was soaked into her clothes. Sally didn't care. For once, she did not tell Percy to shower before telling her anything. She could see the pride and happiness radiating off of him and his smile. Her tear stained face didn't hide her beauty however. She still retained her beauty of her younger days, a fact of which many women her age were jealous of. More cameras flashed, and everyone "aweeed" at the adorable familial love that was present within both Sally and Percy.

Soon after, Sally and Percy walked out of the facility with the happiest of smiles plastered on their faces. Once he showed and changed into dry clothes, Percy and Sally decided to walk around the Junior Olympics. After making their way away from the pool facility, they decided that they wanted to spectate the archery competition. Percy's win and his charming smile made news all around the Junior Olympics. All he had to do was say "I'm Percy Jackson" to get inside of the archery grounds. Everyone saw his smile, and he was glowing with pride. The women's archery competition was starting in a few moments and he thought nothing could dampen his spirits. After the competition started, Percy recognized the piercing gray eyes and the bushy blonde ponytail of a tall girl who hit bulls eye after bulls eye after bulls eye. As her eyes swept across the crowd, they settled on Percy. She narrowed her eyes a bit, recognizing Percy, and then turned around to see her results.

The girl's eyes settled on him. He had never felt so uncomfortable in his life, and his good mood and high spirits was dampened by seeing _her_. Since when was _she_ competing in the Junior Olympics for archery?


	2. Chapter 2: Wise Girl

**Author's Note:** Thank you for all your views on my first chapter! I hope you enjoyed my writing :) Please note: I don't own Percy Jackson or any of the characters! Please excuse any grammatical or spelling mistakes and I'd love if you could provide feedback for my work! Thanks!

 **Chapter 2: Wise Girl**

Annabeth Chase. Her name is synonymous with books, valedictorian, and Ivy-League candidate. Ironically, she's dyslexic, but her parents helped her overcome her dyslexia. Her father, Frederick Chase, is a best-selling author for the history book History: The Unknown Truth. Her mother, Athena Chase, owns the largest bookstore chain in the United States. Thus, Annabeth didn't have much of a choice but to work hard and be perfect in the eyes of her parents. That meant becoming the valedictorian of Goode High School, going to Harvard for architecture, and starting a business after interning at Owl Architectural Firms and Corporation, the largest architecture business in the United States.

Though it may have seemed like it, Annabeth was not oblivious to the names she was called at school. Her older brother, Malcolm, wanted to try some of the boxing techniques he learned on a few of the jocks and the popular girls, especially the most sought after, Drew Tanaka. Drew took a liking to shove Annabeth in the back because she knew the large number of books stacked in Annabeth's arms. She would always fall down because of the weight of the books, blinking back tears which were caused more in humiliation rather than her getting hurt. Silently, she would pick up her books and continue to class, keeping her head high as if nothing happened.

This is what happens to the daughter of two famous individuals. Athena, from Annabeth's point of view, is not understand whatsoever. Her only goal is to push Annabeth harder and harder to achieve her full potential. What she can't see is the pain Annabeth goes through everyday at school, despite being a high schooler. At first, she believed that it doesn't matter who's popular, well known, or snobbish and who's not because high school is the time to make decisions. She followed her motto and graduated 9th grade with all A's, without caring for anyone or what they said. Her classmates soon gave her the nickname of "Wise Girl" which she utterly despised. She knew very well that she was wise, but she hated being called a girl. Who wouldn't if they are 5 feet 7 inches tall?

Sure, Annabeth was one who knew all her imperfections being the "Wise Girl" she was. Her thick, curly, blonde hair that had such unmanageable tangles that she often left them as they were with no effort to detangle them. Her nose could be longer and narrower, and her fingers could be thinner. Still, she loved her eyes. She and Malcolm had Athena's eyes. Gray and cold is how most people viewed her eyes, but she viewed it as a window to the soul. A window that not even her parents could look through and understand. But she believed that there was someone out there, somewhere, who would understand her, comfort her, push her, and love her. Little did she know that her Prince Charming was the person she'd least expect him to be. All she was focused on for now was school work and a growing interest in archery.

Annabeth had a newfound interest in archery, a love that is made when you are captivated by the way the sport works. She read The Hunger Games when she was in 6th grade, so no doubt she knew that Katniss Everdeen's survival depended on her archery skills. Her interest started when she saw a few adults practicing at a local park, away from people. Being the fearless girl she was, she asked if she could try target practice using one of the bows. Though she had never tried archery in her life, she quickly got a hang of it. Once she biked home, she read as much as she could about the sport, and with much persuasion and tears, convinced Athena to train in archery. Her coach was ironically named Artemis, like the Greek goddess of the Hunt. Artemis told her that she was a natural and that she should train for competitions because of how precise and accurate her shots were. And so after that, Annabeth started training for competitions, consistently winning all of them.

Annabeth's love for archery only increased with time. Balancing 6 AP courses and archery practice meant juggling her time to make sure she used every minute of her spare time doing homework. Time spent with her family decreased, and she was constantly stressed. Athena did not do much to calm her nerves. She only added more stress by forcing Annabeth to achieve A's in all her AP courses. If she doesn't, then she will no longer be allowed to continue archery. So, Annabeth worked harder than ever, pushing herself to the limit to find time to do everything that was expected of her. Both she and Malcolm knew that telling Athena that archery is her passion was a lost case. She then made a deal with Artemis, a deal that eventually led to her qualifying at the Junior Olympics. Artemis would test her knowledge on all of her AP units while she would have target practice in an effort to concentrate both on archery and on her studies. This deal worked out so well that she no longer stayed up in the wee hours of the morning trying to finish the homework for AP World History.

Athena was oblivious to the deal. As a mother, she thought she could control her children's lives and lead them on a path to success. Her biggest fear was rejection and failure, which were caused by the two biggest mistakes of her life. Ever since then, she vowed to control Annabeth's and Malcolm's lives so that they don't make the same mistakes as their mother did. Her controlling nature made her bookstore business flourish. She felt guilty at times, but consoled herself saying that it is for her children's own good.

Annabeth continued on her mother's path and her own path. Day by day, decision by decision, she was unknowingly straying from the path Athena wanted her to follow. She grew more mature with time, and learned to follow her heart rather than her mind. Her heart and her mind clashed many times, but she followed her heart. She followed her passion for archery, but still kept up her grades. For her, getting into Harvard was not about getting A's in all her classes. It was following her passion and following through with it, as far as she could go.

Her goal was winning the Junior Olympics for women's archery. And so her goal was made. Once she set her mind to it, there was no backing out.


	3. Chapter 3: An Unexpected Friendship

**Author's Note:** Hi everyone! I'm sorry this chapter took so long to upload, I have been so busy with work this week. This chapter isn't as long as my first two, as this is just a filler chapter. Please excuse any grammatical or spelling mistakes and I'd love if you could provide feedback for my work! I've left a question of the week on my profile in case anyone is interested in answering :) Thank you all for your support and views!

 **Please note:** I don't own Percy Jackson or any of the characters! 

**Chapter 3: An Unexpected Friendship**

Annabeth made her final checks. Bow strung tight enough for tension and elasticity but loose enough to pull back with an arrow? Check. Arrows ready? Check. Bracer on? Check. Nerves calm? Check. She was surprisingly calm even though it was her most competitive event yet. She passed the qualifying round with flying colors, and she hoped to win the championship round of the Junior Olympics in the same way. Hopefully her arrows will be flying rather than colors in her case.

Her fingers worked on their own accord, fidgeting with her bracer. She was ready. She had been preparing since the beginning of high school, and all the hours she sacrificed had better pay off. There was a hint of wind, just enough to blow the arrow off of bulls eye and into the concentric circle next to it. Annabeth remembered all of the techniques Artemis taught her and knew that this was it. Go big or go home.

Annabeth watched her fellow competitors compete. They were obviously excellent at archery or else they wouldn't have made it to this point of competition. Soon, they all finished their round.

"Annabeth Chase, please step up to the white line." **(A/N: I don't know anything about archery, so I'm hoping this is correct? No hate comments because of my lack of knowledge please :))**

Annabeth took a deep breath and stepped up to the white line. She mentally assessed her conditions. Perfect. She was ready. Her arrow was already in her hand from her quiver, and her hand was resting on the bow, with the arrow in laugh position. Her grey eyes saw nothing but the target. She took a count of 1…2…3.

 _Thud._ That satisfying sound and the roar of the crowd meant that she had hit her target dead center. Bulls eye, they called it. Annabeth never used the term "bulls eye" because she preferred using "target" from her fateful incident with the Minotaur ride in the local amusement park. She got into the rhythm of positioning her bow and sinking the arrow into the target. After she used up all the ten arrows in her quiver, her calculating grey eyes scanned around the crowd. Flashes were going off, and she knew she had hit the target all ten times. Beaming at the crowd, she swept her eyes until they landed on _him_. She narrowed her eyes, just to make sure that she wasn't hallucinating from the excitement of the competition. Nope. It was really him. Annabeth immediately turned around and looked at the scoreboard.

Annabeth Chase

Reyna Ramírez-Arellano

Katherine Smith

Haileigh Patterson

Ella Brance

Her eyes glazed over the top five, but her gaze was fixated at number one. She did it. _She won!_ The pride in her chest swelled like a balloon suddenly being filled. After all her years of hard work, determination, sleepless nights, and practice, it finally paid off. Annabeth Chase, the gold medalist for women's archery at the Junior Olympics! She broke into a smile, a smile so wide that the power of that smile could power New York City for a day. She looked around at her fellow competitors, some of whom looked extremely happy, and some who looked like they were on the verge of crying.

"Congratulations Annabeth."

Annabeth turn around so fast that she got whiplash in her neck. A tall, lean young woman, about the same age as Annabeth congratulated her.

"Thanks. What's your name?" Annabeth responded, trying to mask her slight nervousness under a facade of friendliness.

"Reyna. Nice to meet you, Annabeth."

Reyna. A powerful name for a powerful person. No doubt, she was beautiful, with a beautiful Hispanic face, glossy, long black hair tied into an intricate braid, and black eyes that seemed ready to take down the person in front of her. Annabeth was not intimidated by many people, but Reyna was definitely one person she would never pick a fight with. She noticed that Reyna introduced herself with only her first name, but then again, most people do that. She didn't ask further. Instead, she decided to ask what school she attended, and so their small talk began.

To both of them, their conversation was more about knowing the other person's strengths and weaknesses, though neither admitted any of their weaknesses. Both were very prideful in what they did, Annabeth is archery and Reyna in fencing. Annabeth learned that Reyna had won various fencing tournaments and was skilled at wielding a sword, a skill she picked up on while fencing.

What neither of them knew was that their friendly conversation was the start of a bond, a friendship so strong that the choices they made would change the future as they saw it.


	4. Chapter 4: Every Single Time

**Author's Note:** I'm right back at y'all with another chapter! I know, I've been super inconsistent with my updating, but hopefully I'll be more consistent in the future. Please don't mind if there are any spelling or grammatical mistakes and as always, feel free to leave me a review because I take the time to respond to each one :). I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I don't own PJO or any of the characters. Without further ado, here's Chapter 4!

 **Chapter 4: Every Single Time**

When Percy saw Annabeth, he was taken aback. No, shocked was the right word. Annabeth Chase, the book nerd, competing in the Junior Olympics for archery? No way. He disliked her very existence. Always answering questions, keeping her head high with her pointy nose stuck up, and her stormy grey eyes that always seemed to bore into his soul, he found every aspect of hers annoying. He admitted that he was slightly jealous of her, how she kept up her grades was a puzzle he could not put together. Percy also didn't understand how some of his friends took a liking to Annabeth. Sure, she was tall and had an athletic figure, but her eyes offset her beauty, according to him. Her grey eyes intimidated him because it seemed as if she could read his thoughts just by looking at him. It gave him the shivers late at night whenever his mind wandered to her. Not that he liked her or anything of that sort, but he didn't understand why she was so guarded with everyone but Luke and Thalia.

Luke Castellan and Thalia Grace were Annabeth's only friends, both of whom he found annoying. Unfortunately, Percy had to see Thalia's sneery face everyday, as they were neighbors. Her black eyeliner contrasting with her electric blue eyes, black choppy hair, and her black clothes gave her the punk fierce look for which she was known for, and the look she gave everyone meant _stay away from my friends or you will not survive until tomorrow_. Today she happened to wear a black Death to Barbie shirt with a black studded choker (yes, Percy was proud of himself because he finally figured out the names to all the accessories girls wear to school) and some ripped jeans which were black, of course. She was known to break people's noses at school whenever there was a fight between her and another student. Percy made a mental note to stay away from her because he didn't want to break his track record of zero broken bones.

Luke Castellan could have been a jock but he chose not to. He had sandy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. He had a scar running down from his right eye to his chin, but that was the only flaw in his face. With his mischievous smile and his ability to get himself out of any tight situation, any girls harbored feelings for him. Percy noticed that Annabeth and Thalia defended Luke no matter what the situation was, and from that he concluded that either, or both girls, had feelings for Luke.

How Annabeth made friends in these two people, Percy had no idea. The nerd, the fighter, and the charmer were all friends. What annoyed Percy the most was how intact their friendship was despite them meeting only in the morning and just after school ended. They lived in opposite directions, but their friendship was only in one direction. Or so Percy thought. He was oblivious to everything except the jocks and the popular girls. Jason Grace, one of his best friends, was Thalia Grace's younger brother. Nobody would have guessed that they were related. The only similarity between the two siblings was their eyes.

Jason was the perfect person, the person everyone looked up to, and the person everyone envied to be. Straight A's, popular, good-looking, and a varsity soccer player, he had what it took to be accepted into one of the top colleges. He was liked by everyone though his easy going personality, but only Percy and Thalia knew what went on at home. Their mother went crazy, to say the least, and she often stayed in her shell-shocked state after her husband left her and the two kids. Jason hid his home life well under his cool and collected face at school. Nobody except for Percy cared, but that was about to change.

* * *

Percy walked into Goode High on Monday morning, just two days after winning his gold medal in swimming. News of him winning the event spread like wildfire, and he was taken aback at his welcome to school. His first class of the day was homeroom, and what he saw inside was not what he expected. Blue streamers were everywhere, confetti all over the floor and on the desks, and an enormous banner saying _Congratulations Percy!_ There was a basket overflowing with bouquets of flowers, swimming equipment, and blue colored food.

Everyone at school knew that Percy loved anything and everything blue, but nobody asked him why. Well, the story started when he was very young, when Sally was married to Gabe Ugliano, a few years after her divorce from Poseidon. Sweetly referred to as "Smelly Gabe" by Percy, he insisted that there was no such thing as blue food. Since then, Sally put blue food coloring in almost everything Percy ate and drank just to prove that Gabe was wrong. Sally's homemade blue chocolate chip cookies were the best cookies ever created according to Percy. More than the tangible ingredients, the ingredient that he loved the most was love. His mother put love into everything she made, from food to crafts. A few years later, she divorced Gabe and married Percy's English teacher, Paul Blofis, which was one of the best decisions Sally made in her life.

After his initial shock at the warm welcome, Percy thanked everyone for all they had done for him. A group of giggling girls begged him to take a picture with him, and he unwillingly agreed. He plastered a fake smile, but to others it looked convincing. Percy was not in the direct limelight at school because of his father, but that was certainly a key aspect to why he was so popular, apart from his swimming skills. He didn't care about his popularity because he could get out of any trouble just with the mention of his father's name.

After taking pictures with what felt like half the population of Goode High School, Percy finally made his way to Ancient Greek, the only class that Percy understood and wasn't failing, apart from PE. He suffered from ADHD and dyslexia, and he thought that that was bringing his downfall in all his classes. Sally was very supportive and provided her best to help him out, but there was only so much she could do. The rest had to be done by him.

 **** **He walked into class, sitting down just as the bell rang. Mr. Brunner, the Ancient Greek teacher, was just about starting the lesson for the day when a girl walked in, flushed, but elated. She gave her pass to Mr. Brunner and settled down to sit right in front of Percy, much to his dismay. He huffed in annoyance and on cue, the girl flipped her long, curly blonde hair so that it whacked him square in the face. Classmates sniggered, and some wolf-whistled. Percy couldn't take anymore. He pulled the girl's hair, hard, and then acted as if he didn't do anything. The girl suddenly turned around and bore her grey eyes into him. After registering who he was looking at, he let out a small gasp in shock. The girl's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed. She turned around and continued taking notes on the lesson for the day. After she turned around, Percy rolled his eyes and silently pleaded.** ** _Gods, why does it have to be_** **her** ** _every single time?_**


	5. Chapter 5: Surprise, Surprise

****Author's note:**** **Hi everyone! I can't believe that I hit 1,000 views on this story! Thank you all so much for your support. A HUGE shoutout to Orange Pens and Messy Hands for being so supportive and for giving me so much feedback! As always, leave me a review or PM me with any suggestions and/or feedback as I do respond to all of them. Please don't mind any spelling or grammatical mistakes. Again, I do not own the PJO characters as Mr. Riordan came up with the idea first :). Here's Chapter 5. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 5: Surprise, Surprise**

As soon as the Junior Olympics' closing ceremony concluded, Annabeth FaceTimed Thalia and Luke, hyperventilating while telling them about her gold medal. After years of practice of masking her emotions, today was too much and too good to hold them back. Thalia and Luke almost broke her eardrums by screaming as loud as they could. She showed them her gold medal over the call, as she couldn't go to their house because of the homework she had to complete for Monday. After talking for over half an hour, she decided to visit Artemis as it was her guidance which helped Annabeth win. Artemis told her that she was visiting her brother, Apollo, who was part of a famous band called _The Lyres_. She told Annabeth that she would be at the training center in an hour and a half. Annabeth called Artemis as a heads up, and so she arrived at the training facility an hour and a half later.

Artemis greeted her warmly, as always, and asked about the competition. She had a habit of calling Annabeth "Anna Banana" or simply "Banana" as that was the nickname she herself came up with after Annabeth wore a banana costume to archery class as a dare. That was one experience Annabeth deeply regretted, though it was hilarious to Artemis.

"So Banana, how was it?"

Unable to contain the excitement and the pride of winning, Annabeth took off her jacket, revealing the gold medal she wore around her neck. Artemis' eyes twinkled in elation, and both hugged. Annabeth never felt motherly love in her life, and this was the closest to that she received. She cherished every moment with Artemis because she was her mentor, friend, mother, and sister all in one person. Thalia, Luke, and Artemis were the only people she had opened up to after the incident with _him_ years before.

Snapping out of her trance, Annabeth took off her gold medal and put it around Artemis' neck. "It's rightfully yours, Artemis. Without your help, I would never have reached my potential of winning the competition. It's really all thanks to you." Annabeth poured her heart into what she said, and she truly meant it. Artemis then shook her head. "No Annabeth, this is rightfully yours. _You_ put in the hard work. _You_ persevered through all the hardships. _You_ were determined to continue archery even after Athena said no for the first few times. This is your win and your win only."

Artemis smiled, a smile so deep that it touched Annabeth's heart and made it warm with love and affection. What Artemis said meant so much to her that it made her tear up. Annabeth hadn't cried in front of anyone since 6th grade, but today made no difference. With tears of happiness flowing down her cheeks, Annabeth hugged Artemis tightly, putting all of her words into her hug. Artemis took off the medal and put it around Annabeth's neck and smiled proudly. That was one of the greatest moments of Artemis' life, knowing that she had positively impacted a person as kind as Annabeth. Artemis closed her eyes, and felt motherly love radiating towards Annabeth, the one student who she considered as her own daughter. That was the bond between both of them, both vowing silently never to break it.

* * *

Annabeth walked into school on Monday, happier than she ever been since her SAT and ACT scores were announced. Grabbing four books from her locker and depositing the rest from her backpack, she made her way to homeroom. Luckily, nobody pushed her from behind; surprisingly, there were not many people in the hallway as usual. Shifting the books from one arm to the other, Annabeth opened the door to her homeroom and after she saw what was inside, she almost dropped her books in shock.

Confetti, decorations, tinsel garlands, and almost every decoration imaginable was strung up in the classroom. Banners were strung up, and most surprisingly, they were all in grey, her favorite color. How they knew that, she had no idea, but the effort put into everything melted her heart. Connor Stoll and Travis Stoll, twin brothers who were famous pranksters at Goode, took her backpack and books, placed them on the nearest desk, and hoisted Annabeth on their shoulders. She shrieked out loud but then started laughing along with everyone. All her homeroom mates wanted to hug her and congratulated her. There was a queue of students lining up just so they could have a picture of her or her signature, both of which Annabeth thought was embarrassing to give out. Mr. Brunner was her homeroom teacher in addition to her Ancient Greek teacher. He came up with the idea of having everyone be in one picture with Annabeth. Desks were shuffled so that there was room for the entire homeroom could fit in the picture. Annabeth gave her phone and everyone smiled. While the picture was being taken, Annabeth realized that that was her first genuine smile in the school year. She had never felt so happy to be surrounded with the people she had around her now, and she was truly thankful to Artemis.

 _Click!_ Mr. Brunner took a picture before asking everyone to make a silly face. Annabeth instantly stuck out her tongue while everyone made hilarious faces. This went on until the end of homeroom, and when it ended, everyone said goodbye to Annabeth.

 _Finally_ , she said to herself. _Finally I'm being noticed because of my passions and my achievements, not because of some famous person who happens to be my dad_. Her thoughts went directly to Percy and how she absolutely _despised_ him. He was off the hook for _everything_ he did, and his ticket to anywhere was saying that his dad is Poseidon Jackson. Yes, Annabeth had famous parents in the business world, but that didn't matter to her nor to anyone at Goode. _She_ worked to create the person she was. _She_ put in time and effort into her work to make sure it was top of the class. _She_ had goals in life. _She_ stayed determined and poured all her time into schoolwork and archery. On the other hand, what did the lousy Percy do? Nothing, and he still gets so much recognition just by using Poseidon's name, his looks, and is charming ways. _He_ did not study as much as she did. He definitely did _not_ have any goals in life, considering that he was failing every class except for PE and Ancient Greek, which he was surprisingly average at. He _always_ seemed to worm his way out of trouble, no matter what he did. Everything was handed to him on a silver platter, and he used his privileges well. Everyone celebrated with such enthusiasm when he won important swimming competitions for Goode, but nobody except for her teachers congratulated her on receiving a perfect score on the SAT and the ACT. Only sixteen other people received a perfect score on the SAT and nine others on the ACT. That had been her proudest day until she won the Junior Olympics. An announcement was made, yet nobody made the effort to congratulate her. She scoffed at that.

Annabeth then thought back to when she _was_ friends with Percy. Not just friends, but best friends. Yes, she admitted that they were best friends at one point. They both attended a summer camp called Camp Half-Blood where they tested their skills of strength. She rewinded to as far back as her memory would go, and imagined everything in her mind.

" _Percy, wait up!" Annabeth exclaimed, running with her blonde pigtails flying behind her. "Annabeth, hurry up!" Percy said, mimicking Annabeth's tone, running through the forest. Both were about eight years old at the time, and had received their first bead on their necklace a few days before. Annabeth put on a burst of speed and soon caught up to Percy, eventually bypassing him and outrunning him to the cabins. "_ Ha _I beat you," she said proudly, sticking her tongue out in the process, an "insult" Percy found very cute at the time. She outran him by a full seven seconds, and both were heaving to catch their breaths. Percy was not at all happy with losing even though it wasn't even a race. "Yeah, yeah, whatever," Percy mumbled. He asked Mr. Brunner, the head counselor of the camp and later their Ancient Greek teacher, to go to the beach. Mr. Brunner agreed as long as he took a buddy with him. He immediately turned to Annabeth as he asked her if she would like to come. She happily said yes. They walked to the beach, chatting until they sat down in the sand with their feet in the water, watching the sunset. They sat in a comfortable silence as the sun dipped lower and lower into the horizon with vibrant colors streaking the sky._

Annabeth recovered from her flashback. She glanced at her watch and realized she only had a minute to take all of her books out and get to class, which was on the other side of the building. Her Ancient Greek teacher was very punctual and she knew he would ask for a pass to know where she been. She asked her homeroom teacher for a pass and ran to class. Annabeth reached a minute or two after the bell rung, but she showed her pass to Mr. Brunner. He accepted it, and so went to sit down in front of a boy with black hair. She faced the front and didn't turn back to look at the person sitting behind her. Her long hair was getting in her face, and the boy behind her huffed at something, so she flipped her hair back. Unknown to her, it hit the boy right in the face, and the class broke out in muffled giggles. Annabeth was so concentrated on the lesson and taking notes that she was ignorant of everything going around her. She then felt a tug and her head jerked up. She turned around to see the culprit and her eyes widened in shock. _No_ , she thought. _It can't be_ him. She narrowed her eyes and stared right at him, right into his sea-green eyes which were widen with shock as well. Deciding that talking to him was useless, Annabeth turned around and continued taking notes in Ancient Greek.


	6. Chapter 6: Distance and Dreams

**Author's Note:** Hi everyone! I'm so so so sorry for the long time it took to update this story. Life has been so crazy with loads of homework and a recent power outage. I'm going to try to update more often, since I do really want to continue with the story. Anyways, as always, please review! It makes my day, knowing that you put time and effort into doing so. PM me with any suggestions! I love hearing your feedback, and I respond to every review as well. I don't own the PJO characters, but I do own the storyline. Without further ado, here's Chapter 6!

 **Chapter 6: Distance and Dreams**

School went on per usual for both of them. Both of their friends noticed something off with their respective friend. Annabeth and Percy were a little disturbed with their encounter. Sure, it was brief and silent, but it was an encounter nonetheless. Annabeth chose to keep quiet and let Luke and Thalia bicker about whatever they constantly talked about. For the first time, Annabeth did her schoolwork mechanically. She always loved her schoolwork and made sure to understand everything but that was not the case for the day. Even Artemis noticed that Annabeth was not her normal self. Sure, she had perfect aim, but her bubbly self was not there. Artemis knew Annabeth wouldn't respond, so she didn't inquire.

Meanwhile, Percy drove to the YMCA to swim right after school ended instead of driving home in his car, Blackjack. He texted Sally so that she wouldn't be worried about where he was for so long. Swimming, as it did for his dad, helped Percy think and de-stress. The day's events flew by as he swam 25, 50, 100, 200, 500 meters, both releasing his stress and practicing for the upcoming swim meet at Goode. After swimming for a few hours, he took a shower and drove home.

Percy didn't forget Annabeth's eyes the rest of the day. He dared to admit to himself that she intimidated him in every way possible, from her eyes to her intelligence. After driving home, he flopped onto his bed and closed his eyes, thinking of how much times had changed. He remembered, with his heart wrenching, that he and Annabeth used to be best friends. Everything changed in the summer of 5th into 6th grade. Before long, he fell asleep and dreamed about the summer that put their friendship at stake.

" _Wise Girl, how long are you going to bore me with all this useless architecture information?" Percy asked, lying on Annabeth's gray duvet covers. "For as long as you'll continue to listen, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth replied with a roll of her eyes. She continued to read out the section in her book about architectural elements and design, while Percy continued admiring her trophies. He had been to her house enough times to know the layout of her house. After reading the section, Annabeth proposed the idea of going to the library. She had fallen in love with books from a very young age even though she was dyslexic. Percy hated books because his having of dyslexia, but Annabeth dragged him along anyways, even though she herself had dyslexia as well. He sat upright and huffed, obviously not amused at the idea of having to sit in the library for hours at a time._

 _The library was only a short walk away from Annabeth's house. As soon as the library came into sight, Percy watched Annabeth's eyes light up. He was fascinated with Annabeth's eyes because of the way they changed color with her mood. She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the doors. Percy's stomach flipped in a good way. He never admitted it to anyone, but he liked Annabeth for as long as he could remember. Everything about her was perfect. Her long, curly golden locks bounced in the most attractive way. Her eyes were the clearest grey color, ever changing with her mood. Her long eyelashes that naturally accentuated her eyes and her perfect lips were the cause of jealousy among many girls her age. Percy could go on and on about all her wonderful qualities. He broke out of his trance when Annabeth let go of his arm. They opened the doors to the library and went in._

 _A few hours passed. Annabeth helped Percy with his reading and dyslexia. Percy was frustrated that he couldn't read like Annabeth even though she was dyslexic. He was sure that nobody other than the both of them knew about that fact about each other. They left the library and walked to the local park to soak in some sunshine. There was a beautiful nature trail around the pond, and so they walked and talked until the end. Nearing the end of the trail, Annabeth started to say something and her cheeks became flushed with a rosy pink color. "Percy, I-". A girl with long, black hair came up to Percy and linked her arm with his arm._

" _Hey Percy, what are you doing here?" The girl with the black hair asked. "Annabeth and I came for a walk." Percy responded bluntly while Annabeth was evidently blushing. "Well, you don't need to hang out with the bookworm, like, all the time, you know you have other people who, like, want to be friends with you! Come on, I'll show you what it's like to hang out with real people. Oh and by the way, if you didn't know my name, which, like everyone does, obviously, it's Drew. "_

 _Before either Annabeth or Percy could say anything, the girl named Drew dragged Percy away from Annabeth. Percy walked off with Drew and met her friends, not even giving a glance back at Annabeth. That's how he got to know the popular group of kids at school. After talking for awhile with them, Percy quite liked talking about something that was not related with school and books. Drew started making some nasty comments about Annabeth, and Percy was not comfortable with that._

" _Why do you hang out with the bookworm all the time? She just stays shut up in the library or something all day, doesn't she? And, like, I bet she's never gone to a party before. Her eyes are so weird, like who even has grey eyes? She doesn't even wear any makeup, like how uncool is that? She's ugly anyways, not that makeup would even help. You should hang out with us 'cause we know how to have fun. I don't think she's ever even had fun!" Chortles of laughter followed Drew's speech about Annabeth. Just to fit in, Percy gave a nervous laugh. He left with the group to get ice cream from a nearby shop, and then left for home, with the guilt of leaving Annabeth behind weighing him down._

Percy woke up with a start, realizing that he never had the courage to get Annabeth back again. From the day after the fateful incident to what he thought of as forever, Annabeth never said more than a few words at any given time. All methods of communication stopped, and she never bothered to help him with his homework, as she used to. Percy remembered trying so hard to get Annabeth to talk to him, but was always met with glares. One day, he finally had a conversation with her. Percy slipped back into sleep while trying to grasp the moments before everything between them was cut off for good.

" _Wise Girl, please, what's wrong? Why are you ignoring me all of a sudden?" Percy pleaded with Annabeth. Usually, her eyes gave away her emotions, but she must have trained herself to keep an impassive face as as packed her backpack. "If you were truly my friend, you would know. Since you don't know, you should go look into that Seaweed Brain of yours and figure it out. I don't call you that for nothing, you know." Annabeth furiously stuffed all her notebooks into her backpack, breaking a pencil with her bare hand along the way. Her curly hair, which was tied into a messy ponytail, kept falling into her face, which made her even more frustrated. Never once did she look up into Percy's eyes until the last statement. "Best of luck in life, Percy!" Annabeth's statement was dripping in heavy sarcasm and her voice was cold. Her eyes were a startling dark, cold gray and the tone in which she said it was unmistakably nasty._

 _Percy stood there, taken aback by what Annabeth had said. Taking the last of her books, she stormed out of the classroom. Since then, Annabeth never talked to Percy until she was forced to. From that moment on, Percy turned his back on Annabeth and continued on with his life, albeit feeling hurt by her actions, as if nothing happened._

* * *

Annabeth dumped her bag in her room and went into her basement to practice archery. Arrow after arrow, thought after thought, day after day. Nothing had changed, and nothing was going to change. At least that's what Annabeth thought. She allowed herself to think about when Percy truly betrayed her. Treading up two flights of stairs, Annabeth again went into her room and sat on her bed. Before she knew it, she fell asleep.

 _Internally, Annabeth was trying to stay in control of not ripping that Drew girl's arm off of Percy and was trying not to correct her terrible grammar. Seriously, who says 'like' every two seconds? Drew and her crew, obviously. Knowing that Percy will come back to her, she walked by their group and started heading towards the parking lot. Then she heard something that made her stop and reconsider everyone who she thought she trusted in her life._

" _Why do you hang out with the bookworm all the time? She just stays shut up in the library or something all day, doesn't she? And, like, I bet she's never gone to a party before. Her eyes are so weird, like who even has grey eyes? She doesn't even wear any makeup, like how uncool is that? She's ugly anyways, not that makeup would even help. You should hang out with us 'cause we know how to have fun. I don't think she's ever even had fun!"_

 _That Drew girl was going to torment her forever. Annabeth then heard laughter, coming from Percy. From_ Percy _! Tears formed, and she ran out of the park to her house without stopping. She cried until she couldn't cry anymore. That was the start to the end of their friendship._

Annabeth didn't realize she was crying while dreaming. She woke up, noticing the cold tears running off her face and onto her pillowcase. After splashing cold water on her face, Annabeth sighed. Life goes on. It always does.

* * *

 **Now you finally know why Annabeth and Percy have been mad at each other! Be sure to follow and/or favorite my story if you like it!**

 **Question of the Chapter: If you could travel in time (forwards or backwards), where would you go and why? PM me with your responses!**


	7. Chapter 7: Alarms

**Author's Note: Hi everyone! I'm really sorry for the long time it took to update this story :(. Next time, you will definitely NOT have to wait for more than a month, I promise on the River Styx. Please review! It makes my day, knowing that you put time and effort into doing so. PM me with any suggestions! I love hearing your feedback, and I respond to every review as well. I don't own the PJO characters, but I do own the storyline. Let's get on with Chapter 7!**

 **Chapter 7: Alarms**

"Come downstairs this instant, young lady!" Athena bellowed, her voice echoing from all the walls of Annabeth's house. "If you don't, then I'm cancelling archery classes." Annabeth gasped in shock when she heard that. _No,_ she thought. _Mom can't do that. Please don't let Mom do that._ Wiping away her tears and unfurling herself from ball she curled herself into, Annabeth came out of her room and started descending the staircase to where Athena was standing. Athena was livid with rage as she held up Annabeth's progress report. "Is this really your progress report, Annabeth? I expected nothing less than all A's, yet you have let me down by having an A- in AP Biology. Why is that?" Annabeth knew her grades by heart, including her AP Biology grade. She knew the reason behind it as well but she was not going to let her mother know the real reason. Instead, she responded, "AP Biology is a difficult class Mom, I have the highest grade in the class. There has only been one test in the class as well, which, as you know, I received an A- on. Since there have been no new assignments after that, my grade is an A-." She definitely was not lying, as all the statements she made were true, but she was hiding part of the truth. Being disrespectful to Athena or speaking grammatically incorrect English earned her an earful of yelling and babysitting her neighbor's kids. Gods, she never wanted to babysit again after _that_ experience.

"You still need to have all A's to get into Harvard and Yale. If your grades aren't A's by the end of this month, you're banned from going to archery classes, and I'll make the decision of whether I want you enrolled in it again. Understood?" Annabeth squeaked out a tiny yes. "Now that I've made myself clear, go finish your homework. I don't want you staying up so late every night." Athena then turned her back and left for the kitchen in preparation for dinner while Annabeth ran up the stairs, two at a time, and silently closed her door. She let all the dams break inside of her and cried until she couldn't cry anymore. _Why doesn't Mom understand that I'm doing the best I can? Taking six AP classes is no joke, and getting A's in them is even more difficult. Why can't she see that I love archery? If she takes that away from me, I have nothing left,_ Annabeth thought. She heard a soft ping on her phone and checked to see the notification.

 _Hey Annabeth, there's an architecture designing competition for people our age. Just wanted to text you to let you know if you're interested. Website link: .com. -Reyna_

An architecture designing competition? Annabeth was always interested in architecture, but she had never heard of a contest. _Wait, how did Reyna get my number?_ She eyed the message suspiciously, but went ahead and clicked on the link. She braced herself for the virus that was yet to download, but the virus never came. Her red, puffy eyes widened at all the marvelous designs high schoolers her age created for past contests. She went through all the pictures on the website and made up her mind that she was going to enter the competition. _One more task to add onto my ever-growing list_ , she thought. Annabeth's homework was long forgotten as she worked on sketches of her ideas.

* * *

Annabeth managed to finish her homework and design four office spaces. She worked late into the night, reading and rereading the criteria. This year's challenge was to design an office space with: windows to provide natural lighting, Greek architectural elements, and so on. There were many restrictions as well, such as the size of the office space and the location of the office. She walked into school with a messy bun, dark undereye circles, and a wide smile on her face.

"Someone woke up on the right side of her bed," Thalia said as she saw Annabeth's bright face. "'Sup Anna? Whatcha so happy about?" Thalia, as usual, spoke slang to get onto Annabeth's nerves. This was the one day where Annabeth did not reprimand her, so she knew something was up. "Well, there's an architectural designing competition, and a girl named Reyna, who came second in the Junior Olympics for archery, sent me a text last night about it. The funny thing is that I didn't tell her my number and she somehow knew it. I'll show you my sketches just before going home today." Annabeth responded with a chuckle as she took three books out of her locker while Thalia leaned against some lockers, blowing a large bubble from the gum she chewed noisily. "Reyna, as in Reyna Ramírez-Arellano?" Thalia suddenly stood up while asking. "Yeah, why?" Annabeth continued to swap her books in her locker and her backpack. Thalia then answered grimly, "She's Percy's cousin. Don't trust her. She could be just like Percy, leaving you when you need her the most." Annabeth almost dropped her books as she looked at Thalia incredulously. "She's _his_ cousin? How? She's so much nicer, we have so many things in common, and she gave no hint as to seeing him at the competition. How can this be?" She pelted Thalia with questions, and Thalia answered with a simple shrug. Just then, the bell rang and they both ran to Music Enrichment.

Annabeth and Thalia slipped into seats in the back of the classroom so they could have their own private conversation. Annabeth shuffled through her backpack and took out the scrolls of paper containing her sketches and showed them to Thalia, who looked at them in awe. She squeezed her hand and said in a confident tone, "Anna, you are going to win. I can just feel it, I know you're going to win. What less can you expect from Annabeth Chase?" Annabeth contained her laughter so it sounded like snorts. Thalia broke into laughter just by hearing Annabeth. "Is there anything you girls want to add?" Mr. Cooper asked, obviously not amused with Annabeth and Thalia giggling. "Uh, yes Mr. Cooper. Notes A and B have a whole step in between them, not a half step." Thalia was much more intelligent than she was known to be, and she answered with ease. "Yes, good Thalia. Have you learned to play the piano or an orchestra instrument to know this?" Mr. Cooper tried to hide his shock of Thalia getting an answer correct and Annabeth not answering or helping Thalia in any way. Thalia then responded proudly, "I play the piano." Mr. Cooper, looking surprised, turned his back and continued on with the lesson.

For the rest of the lesson, Thalia had a smug look on her face. Nothing, she thought, could change that. Soon, the bell rung, and they were off to AP Chemistry. Annabeth had no idea how Thalia managed to get into AP Chemistry, but she wasn't complaining. She knew that Thalia knew her goals, and that's why Thalia never dared to mess up an experiment or a partner project. Otherwise, Thalia was not very concerned about her grades. She was a bright student, but never put her brains to use. Thalia never told anyone other than Annabeth about her mom. She figured Jason must have told Percy about their mom because honestly, she thought anyone in their neighborhood could their mom's midnight screaming and yelling. Thalia had nightmares as a kid because of the frequent screams from her mom's room late at night, so she would run and hide in the forest in her backyard.

One night when Thalia was around seven years old, her mom's fit of screaming left her so petrified that she ran into the forest. Her mom chased her until she came across a large pine tree. Thalia was too young to outrun her mom, so she climbed up the tree, using her "ninja-tree-climbing skills". Exhausted and too scared to go down, Thalia rested herself between two branches and fell asleep. Morning came, and Thalia, who was still sleeping in the tree, was nowhere to be seen. Jason frantically called all their neighbors for any of his sister's whereabouts, but nobody knew where she was. After calling 911, policemen searched around their house and finally found Thalia in the pine tree. She refused to come down for fear of her mom chasing her again. After much time and persuasion, the policemen helped Thalia get down. She had always been scared of heights, and the trauma from that eventful night only made it worse.

Since then, Annabeth called Thalia "Pinecone Face." Though Thalia certainly did not like the name, it helped her deal with her trauma in a much more mellow way than before she became best friends with Annabeth. Thalia wasn't sure how much she said it, but she knew that in the end of the day, Annabeth was the one person who would always be by her side.

* * *

 _BEEP. BEEP. BEEEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEEEP._

Thalia broke out of her thoughts as the fire alarm rang. Annabeth almost jumped out of her seat because of the unexpectedness of the alarm. Thalia quickly grabbed her phone, Annabeth's phone, a pencil, and helped carry Annabeth's architectural designs out the classroom door and out of the school building. They ran down the stairs and were being as careful as they could so that Annabeth's designs would not be ruined. After running down three flights of stairs, Annabeth gasped with Thalia by her side.

"Is that…smoke coming out of the language department?" Annabeth asked Thalia, with wide eyes, as she pointed to the other end of the school where billowing clouds of thick, black smoke were oozing out of the top floor. Thalia looked up and almost dropped Annabeth's scrolls of architectural designs onto the grassy field. She answered in a small voice. "Yeah it is. Jason has Latin this block."

They heard one of the windows shatter, where more smoke poured out. Thalia yelled Jason's name one last time before her world went black.

 **A/N:** Did you like the sudden ending? Should Jason be saved? Who will be there with Jason? If you have any ideas or answers to those questions, PM me!


	8. Chapter 8: Flames

******Author's Note:****** The River Styx has punished me because I've been gone waaayyyy too long. I'm sorry, I really am! School...and life. Those two words explain everything. I'm not going to bore you with details, but I will request you to review! It makes my day, knowing that you put time and effort into doing so. PM me with any suggestions! I love hearing your feedback, and I respond to every review as well. I don't own the PJO characters, but I do own the storyline. Without further ado, here's Chapter 8!

 ** **Chapter 8: Flames****

Percy was just about to fall asleep in Latin when he smelled something funny. At first, he thought it was because he was dreaming about roasted marshmallows, but when he felts kids shove his chair, he knew something was wrong. He woke up to the sound of fire alarms blaring. With his ADHD kicking in, his sleepiness instantly disappeared and he stood up, telling everyone to get out of the classroom while thick clouds of smoke filled the room. He ushered his teacher, Mr. Dakota, who had no concerns whatsoever for anyone's life but his own, out of the classroom while Jason ran over to him. They grabbed their phones and whatever water bottles they could find to put out the fire, if they could find it. Through all the smoke, it was hard to see anything at this point. They ripped a part of their shirts and placed it in front of their mouths, as sort of a filter, so that they could breathe.

By this time, both Jason and Percy were sweating because of the intense heat coming from the fire. They managed to find the fire, which came from the apparently broken heater in the back of the classroom. Jason shattered the window next to the heater so the majority of the trapped smoke was released outside instead of lingering in the classroom. He knew that he would have to pay for the damage done, but the cost of buying and installing a new window was nothing compared to the cost of a life on his hands. He faintly heard someone yell his name, so he looked out the window and into the common courtyard outside the school. The smoke obscured his vision, so he turned around and tried to find a way to help Percy.

Percy dumped the water bottles where he hoped the fire was. The smoke and intense heat made Percy cough and splutter, hoping that he aimed in the correct direction. Miraculously, the water seemed to know what Percy was thinking, and as if Percy was controlling the water, it splashed into the flames, even though his eyes were stinging from the residue the fire produced. After countless bottles from students' backpacks, the fire was finally put out. The fire alarms were still blaring and the firetrucks hadn't even arrived. _That's great_ , Percy thought. _Jason and I just put out the fire_. Jason took a large poster from the wall and with Percy's help, they cleared most of the smoke from the room. The winds seemed to obey Jason's command, and within the next ten minutes, the visibility had drastically increased. They threw away their blackened shirt filters in the trash and started to walk out the door.

With a soot covered face, few minor burns, very irritated eyes, and scratchy throats, both boys managed to make their way down the stairs and into the common courtyard where the rest of the student body was assembled. They grinned, knowing that this would be a part of them for the rest of their lives. Sharing a fistbump, they laughed and finally reached the courtyard where the teachers were frantically calling each other on their walkie-talkies.

"Two students are missing: Perseus Jackson and Jason Grace. Has anyone seen them?" one of the teachers frantically looked around while trying to find her attendance sheet.

Percy and Jason weren't in her line of sight, but Percy overheard the teacher speak into her walkie-talkie. As they got closer, Jason saw Annabeth cradling an unconscious Thalia while trying not to let anyone step on her scrolls. Jason yelled "THALIA!" and immediately caught everyone's attention. He and Percy were quite a sight, and on several teachers' insistence, they were brought to the nurse's office, with Annabeth struggling to carry, or more like drag, Thalia and her scrolls in tow. Percy glanced over, obviously knowing that Annabeth could not carry the scrolls without them being crushed by Thalia, and smirked. _Looks like she needs help after all_ , he thought. He wanted to apologize to her and ask him what he did wrong. He wanted to hold her hand and tell her that everything is alright, that she's perfect the way she is, that she doesn't need to stretch herself to prove her excellence to her mom. His voice ultimately betrayed his mind, and said, "I'll carry your scrolls for you."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes as he walked closer to her, biting her tongue to prevent herself from lashing out. She went through a few responses in her head and finally settled on one that wouldn't seem to rude in front of all her teachers.

"Why?" she asked. Percy shrugged. "I wanted to be nice for once, and it looks like you could use the help. Besides, I know you don't want to ruin your scrolls."

Annabeth looked into his eyes and tried to detect any lie in what he had said. She analyzed his stance, his expression, and most of all his eyes, the ones she trusted and held a special place in her heart. Determining that he meant what he said, she grudgingly gave in and carefully placed the scrolls into Percy's arms.

Percy noticed this was the nicest encounter they had since their fallout. Keeping a firm hand on the scrolls, he walked next to Annabeth and Jason followed closely behind.

Jason, admittedly, was not the sharpest needle in the haystack, but he noticed the brief encounter between Percy and Annabeth. He knew that there was something much deeper than a simple argument, because they never talked to each other unless there was no other option. They always glared at each other and had some sort of rivalry that had only increased with time. Even though Percy and Annabeth avoided each other, he could tell that they were close before. Close enough to be friends, or perhaps more? He was yet to find out. As of right now, his priority was making sure that Thalia was ok. Annabeth told him that Thalia fainted, and that she had a steady pulse. All they had to do was wait until she regained consciousness.

The firetrucks reached just as they opened the doors of the second building of Goode High School. The smoke from the Latin room had decreased, but Percy and Jason guessed the smoke would linger in the room for a while. Besides, they had put out the fire, and they shared a smile, knowing the firefighters will only have to get rid of the smoke. The heater vents had melted, and the school needed another window, so that room would not be used until the following school year. Percy always thought that room was one of the worst between the two school buildings, so he was rather pleased when they announced that the room would no longer be used.

The teachers led the three conscious and one unconscious students to the nurse's office. After a brief conversation with the nurse, the teachers left, leaving the students in the stark, white room. The school nurse fussed over Percy and Jason, giving them various first aid supplies and cleaning their burns. Percy silently gave Annabeth her scrolls, and she gave a curt nod in response.

Annabeth was allowed to stay in the nurse's office until Thalia woke up, and since she was a stellar student, she was allowed to skip class (with permission from her teacher). She watched the two boys washing the soot from their faces and laughing as if they hadn't done something amazing. Quirking her lips up with their antics, she silently laughed, wishing that she had such an easy relationship with her brother. Yes, she and Malcolm were close, but they were always under the watch of Athena and were never given any freedom outside of going to archery for Annabeth and boxing for Malcolm. She felt a pang in her chest knowing that people would try to become friends with her because of her family's connections, or because of who her parents are. Because of Percy's betrayal, she closed herself to everybody except Thalia.

Annabeth turned her gaze to the unconscious girl next to her. Nobody should have gone through what Thalia did, especially at such a young age. She was very protective of Jason, and rightfully so. Her menacing glare made everybody run away from her, and her electric blue eyes were cold to everyone except Annabeth and Jason.

Once the nurse bandaged up the two boys, Jason sat next to Annabeth and looked at Thalia. He took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze, and even though he knew she had fainted, he was still worried. Annabeth looked at Jason and decided it was best to leave the siblings and let them have a little alone time. Talking to Percy wasn't in her best interests, and she was on school premises, so she couldn't slap his face since the nurse was there. Mentally rolling her eyes, she got up from her seat and asked the nurse if she could go to the library to work on her scrolls, and the nurse agreed.

Just before she left the nurse's office, Annabeth asked, "Jason, can you text me when Thalia wakes up? She can stay over at my house for the night if she wants to."

"Sure." Jason replied, giving his phone so she could put her phone number into it.

"Thanks, Jason. It really means a lot to me."

"No problem, Annabeth. I'm so glad you brought Thalia here, I don't know what I would do if she fainted in front of me. Looks like you're the wise one here." Jason laughed, which made Annabeth laugh as well.

"I'm not called Wise Girl for nothing," Annabeth added chuckling softly. "Alright, I'm going to head to the library. The nurse excused me for the rest of the day, so if you need to find me, I'll be there."

"Sounds great! I'll drive Thalia over to your place." Jason replied. Annabeth thanked him and left for the library without acknowledging Percy sitting on one of the cots. She didn't notice his wistful stare as she left. Flames were present that day, whether they were put out or newly forming.


End file.
